Tie puller jack



Oct. 29, 1940. 1 P. J. NEELY El AL TIE FULLER JACK Filed Dec. 22, 1939 2 shuns-sheet 1 I INVENTORS A BY 48% ATTO NEY Oct. 29, 1940. P. J. NEELY ET Al.

TIE FULLER JACK Filed Dec 22, 1939 2 Shuts-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ,1 TTO Patented Oct. 29, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIE FULLER JACK Application December 22, 1939, Serial No. 310,506

11 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for pulling old ties from under railroad rails, and for moving a new tie into position in place of an old tie that is removed.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved tie-puller jack of'the type that grips the tie and thrusts against one of the rails to push the tie transversely of the roadbed, and the invention comprises novel features and combinations of elements that make the apparatus economical to manufacture and convenient and advantageous in use. 1

In accordance with one feature of the invention the jaws of the apparatus grip the tie with a force that is proportional to the resistance encountered in pushing the tie, and the jaws are forcibly released from the tie when the apparatus is moved back to grip the tie nearer the end. The principal advantage of a tie-puller that grips and releases the tie quickly and conveniently is that it can be constructed to move the tie for only a limited distance with each grip and the machine can be made much more compact and less expensive than those pullers that move the tie for the full distance 7 with one connection.

The tie-puller of this invention is preferably supported entirely by the tie and has a rack bar that is thrust against one of the rails by jack mechanism which is operated by a lever. The

tie-puller can be slid back along the tie to get a new grip whenever the pawl mechanism approaches the end of the rack bar.

Another feature of the invention is a doubleacting pawl mechanism that thrusts against the rack bar during movement of the operating lever in both directions. This prevents the return- Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the tiepuller jack shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the tiepuller jack shown in Fig. 2, with the operating handle in section.

The invention includes two jaw arms I l and I 2 that rest upon the top surface ofa tie l3 and have jaws extending down the sides of the tie with slightly sharpened teeth 14 that grip the tie. The tie-puller is supported entirely by these jaw arms resting on the tie.

Force to move the tie l3 transversely and displace it from the roadbed is developed by jack mechanism, which is associated with the arms, and reacts a thrust member comprising a rack bar [6 against the side of a rail I! that is fixed in position by its connections to the other ties l8.

The rack bar I6 is much shorter than the tread of the railroad, andis preferably as long as about one-half the distance betweenrails. When the tie-gripping jaws and tie l3 have been advanced as far as the length of the rack bar l6 will permit, the jaws are released from the tie and the jack and gripping mechanism is slid back along the tie and rack bar 16 to get a new grip on the tie.

After the tie I3 has been pushed as far as possible to-the right with the rack bar against the lefthand rail, the tie-puller is lifted out of its position between the rails and placed on a part of the tie outside of the rail where the rack bar can be thrust against the outside of the right-hand rail. New ties are sometimes pulled into position by connecting them to the rearward end of the old ties, or a new tie may be pushed by hand partway into the space that was occupied by the old tie and then advanced the rest of the way with the tie-puller of this invention.

The jaw arms H and I2 are connected near their rearward ends to a cross plate 20 by pivots 2|. The forward end of the jaw arm II is connected by a pivot 22 with a link 23 that has its other end connected to a housing 24 by a pivot 26. The jaw arm I2 is similarly connected with the housing 24 by a link 21.

The forward end of the housing 24 rests on and is supported by the links 23 and 21, and these links rest upon the top surfaces of the jaw arms I I, 12. The bottom surface of the housing 24 is a bearing on which the housing has relative movement with respect to the links 23 and 21 as the housing moves lengthwise along the rack bar l6. Forward movement of the housing pulls the links 23, 21 and causes the teeth M of the gripping jaws to come into contact with the sides of the tie.

The 1inks23 and 21 extend for a substantial distance across the top-surfaces of the jaw arms II and I2 so that the links have a substantial bearing area on the top surfaces of the jaw arms. The rearward end of the housing 24 rests upon the cross plate 20 and slides upon that plate as a bearing.

A socket lever 30 extends into the housing 24 from above and is connected to the housing by a fulcrum shaft 3! held in bearings in opposite side walls of the housing. A handle 32 fits into the socket in the upper end of the socket lever 3|. A lug 33 on the socket lever 30 strikes against a front wall 34 of the housing 24 to limit the oscillation of the lever 32 in one direction.

There are two pawls operated by the socket lever 30. An upper pawl 36 is connected to the socket lever 38 by a pin 31 above the level of the axis of the shaft 3! so that the pawl 36 moves to the left when the handle 32 is moved to the left.

A lower pawl 38 is connected to the lever 30 by a pin 39 below the level of the axis of the shaft 3| so that the pawl 38 moves toward the right when the handle 32 is rocked to the left. Both of the pawls 36 and 38 engage with the teeth M on the top sideof the rack bar iii. A lug 42 on the socket lever 32 strikes the top of the pawl 36 to limit the movement of the handle 32 toward the left.

The angular movement of the lever 30 is preferably sufficient to-move the pawls 36, 38 a distance equal to the length of two of the ratchet teeth 45. The lever 30 and the pawl and ratchet means operated by this lever comprise a doubleacting jack mechanism that produces a relative movement of the housing 24 and the rack bar 16 during movement of the handle 32 in opposite directions.

A trip pin 44 extending from the lower pawl 38 projects through an opening 48 in one side of the housing 24. When the housing is to be slipped backward along the rack bar N3, the lower pawl 38 is lifted above the teeth 4! by raising the pin 44. The lower pawl 38 strikes against the under side of the upper pawl 36 and raises it above the ratchet teeth.

As the housing 24 is jacked forward along the rack bar [6, the links 23 and 2? first move from the full-line to the dotted-line positions shown in Fig. 3 and shift the jaw arms H and i2 into the dotted-line positions with the teeth 4 gripping the tie E3. The gripping mechanism and the tie are advanced entirely by the pull of the links 23, 21. This pull is at an acute angle to the direction of movement of the housing 24 along the rack bar so that the links 23, 2'! will pull the jaws and teeth l4 against the sides of the tie with a force proportional to the force exerted by the jack mechanism. Since the jack mechanism must exert a force sufiicient to shift the tie, the grip of the teeth i4 is proportional to the resistance encountered by the tie. This insures against slippage of the jaws on the tie. The teeth M are shaped so that any forward movement with respect to the tie makes the teeth dig in deeper into the sides of the tie.

When the jack mechanism has advanced to the end of the rack bar 16 and the pawls 36, 33

have been raised above the teeth 4| preparatory to sliding the jack and gripping mechanism back along the rack bar It, the housing is pulled back from the dotted-line position, shown in Fig. 3, to the full-line position, and by this movement the links 23 and 2? are caused to disengage the teeth 14 from the tie. The links therefore operate as a positive release for the gripping mechanism when the jack structure is moved rearwardly.

Further rearward movement of the housing 24 causes the links 23 and 21 to push the jaw arms II and 12 further apart, the maximum opening between the jaw teeth I4 being obtained when the links 23 and 21 are in line with one another. Stops 48 which extend upward from and are integral with the jaw arms I I and I2 limit the rearward movement of the links 23 and 21. With the links 23, 21 against the limit stops 48, the housing 24 and the gripping mechanism move backward as a unit along the rack bar IS.

A pin 49 extending from the housing 24 serves as a hand-hold for lifting or moving the tiepuller. The trip pin 44 is strong enough to serve also as a hand-hold When lifting the tie-puller.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment illustrated and described. Changes and modifications can be made, and some features can be used without others.

We claim:

1. A device for withdrawing a tie from beneath the rails of a railroad including in combination a bar for pushing against a side of one of the rails, rack teeth on said bar, tie-gripping means with bearing surfaces that rest upon the top surface of the tie and that are located in positions to support the entire weight of the device, and mechanism associated with the tie-gripping means for moving said means lengthwise along the rack bar, said mechanism including an oscillating lever, and double-acting pawls operated by said lever to move the tie-gripping means with respect to the rack bar upon movement of the lever in both directions.

2. In a railroad tie-puller including an assembly that rests on the tie as its sole support and has a thrust member that reacts against one rail of the track, an oscillating handle, and double-acting pawl and ratchet mechanism in the assembly for producing relative movement of said thrust member in said assembly during movement of the handle in both directions.

3. A tie-puller including a bottom bearing that rests on the top surface of a tie, said bearing being in position to support the entire weight of the tie-puller when in operation, tie-gripping mechanism, a rack bar slidable with respect to the tie-gripping mechanism in the direction of the tie length, and pawl means carried by said mechanism and operable to thrust one end of the rack bar against the side of a rail.

4. Apparatus for pulling a tie from under the rails of a railroad, said apparatus comprising means supported on the tie including a tie-pulling device, a rack bar, pawl mechanism disposed above the tie for reacting one end of the rack bar against the side of one of the rails to force the tie-pulling device transversely of the rails, an operating lever for the pawl mechanism extending upward from the tie, and a bearing about which the operating lever oscillates about an axis substantially parallel to the rails.

5. In a railroad tie-puller, a thrust bar shorter than the distance between the rails for reacting against one of said rails, a frame with bearing surfaces by which it is supported solely by the tie and with bearings in which said bar is slidable lengthwise with respect to said frame, ratchet teeth on the thrust bar, and pawl mechanism for producing relative movement of the frame and the thrust bar.

6. In a tie-puller having means for moving the tie, and a thrust bar for reacting against a fixed track rail, rack teeth on the thrust bar, and double-acting jack mechanism associated with the tie-moving means for displacing said tie-moving means lengthwise along the thrust bar.

7, Apparatus for pulling a tie under a railroad track including jaws for gripping the tie,

a thrust bar, jack mechanism for reacting one end of the thrust bar against'a rail of the track to force the jaws and a tie gripped by said jaws transversely of the track, means holding the jaws against the tie with a force proportional to the force by which the jawsand tie are-pushed transversely of the track, said jack mechanism including a handle and double-acting pawl and ratchet mechanism for producing a force against the thrust bar during displacement of the handle in different directions.

8. In a tie-puller having a thrust bar for reacting against the side of a fixed rail, tie-gripping jaws, pawl and ratchetmechanism for causing relative movement of the thrust bar and gripping jaws in the direction of the length of said bar and toward one end of the bar, and mechanical means operable to cause positive release of said gripping jaws from the tie upon the initiation of relative movement of the bar and jaws in the opposite direction.

9. Apparatus for displacing a tie transversely under the rails of a track including jaws for gripping the tie, a rack bar for reacting against the side of one of the rails, a frame with pawl and ratchet jack mechanism for producing a displacement of the frame lengthwise along the rack bar, and link connections between the frame and jaws constructed and arranged to force the jaws against the tie with a force proportional to the resistance encountered by the tie when the frame is moved in one direction with respect to the bar, and to force the jaws to release the tie when the frame is moved in the other direction with respect to the bar.

10. A tie-puller including in combination two arms that rest on the tie, jaws extending downward from the outer edges of said arms with teeth for gripping the sides of the tie, a plate, a pivot connection between each arm and the plate, a housing that slides on the plate as a bearing, a rack bar slidable in the housing as a bearing, a lever fulcrumed in the housing, pawl means connected with said lever and operated by said lever to produce a relative displacement of the bar and housing, and links connecting the housing and arms, said links extending at acute angles to the direction of said relative displacement so that they pull the arms together and the jaws against the tie when the displacement is produced by the pawl means, and push the arms apart when each arm with the cross plate, a housing sup-.

ported at its rearward end by said cross plate and slidable on the cross plate as a bearing, a rack barslidable in the housing as a bearing, a lever fulcrumed in the housing, pawl means connected with said lever and operated by said lever to produce a relative displacement of the bar and housing, and links connecting the housing and arms, each of said links extending under the housing and having an upper bearing surface on which the housing rests, and each of said links extending for a substantial distance across the top of the horizontal portion of its associated arm and resting on said horizontal portion as a bearing so that the links serve as the support for the front end of the housing, said links extending at acute angles to the direction of said relative displacement so that they pull the arms together and the jaws against the tie when the displacement is produced by the pawl means, and push the arms apart when the displacement is in the other direction, and abutments on the arms for limiting'the relative movement of the links and arms in one direction.

PALLAS J. NEELY. HOSEA L. PRUETT. CHARLES M. STAPLES. 

